A study of the current utilization of Business Transition Management theory within the Dutch sustainable Food & Agribusiness sector. Casper Jan

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A study of the current utilization of Business Transition Management theory

within the Dutch sustainable Food & Agribusiness sector.

Casper Jan Velthuijs, 10626689

Supervisor: Willem Dorresteijn

Faculty of Economics and Business

21/06/2019

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Statement of Originality

This document is written by me, Casper Velthuijs, student number 10626689, and I declare to

take full responsibility for the contents of this document. I declare that the text and the work

presented in this document is original and that no sources other than those mentioned in the

text and its references have been used in creating it. The Faculty of Economics and Business

is responsible solely for the supervision of completion of the work, not for the contents.

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I would like to dedicate this thesis to my parents and to Irene,

without whom I would be nowhere.

Abstract

Transition Theory has been guiding the Dutch governments approach to Sustainable

Development for almost 18 years (Ottens & Edelenbos, 2019). With the recent publication of

reports on the future of climate change mitigation (Hekkenberg & Koelemeijer, 2018) and

agriculture (Ministerie van Landbouw, Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit, 2019), it has recommitted

itself to this school of thought. Transition Theory is not only available for public governance

purposes however. It has long been suggested for commercial use as well (Loorbach, van

Bakel, Whiteman, & Rotmans, 2010), being introduced by commercial actors on a number of

occasions (Loorbach & Rotmans, 2010) (Silva, Rosano, Stocker, & Gorissen, 2017).

However, little study has been done into the general adoption of this theory in the private

sector, academics focusing on theoretical framing of this issue (Lachman, 2010) and studying

it through in-depth case studies (Loorbach & Rotmans, 2010) (Silva, Rosano, , & Gorissen,

2017). This study aims to build on this body of work, by looking at the implementation of

Business Transition Management (BTM) within the sustainable food and agribusiness sector

in the Netherlands. To do so, it conducts a framework analysis of strategy documents of 13

prominent businesses within the Dutch food and agribusiness network for Corporate Social

Responsibility (MVO, 2019). The results of this are that six out of the thirteen business do

indeed use BTM, yet do not do so in its entirety. These businesses are not integrating

multi-party evaluation platforms into their strategy, excluding a vital part of the BTM framework.

Seven of the businesses take an independent approach to creating sustainable innovations and

therefore do not use BTM in their sustainability strategy.

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1. Introduction

Since 2001, Transition Theory (TT) has been guiding the Dutch national government's

approach to Sustainable Development (SD) (Ministerie van Volkshuisvesting, Ruimtelijke

Ordening en Milieu, 2001), featuring prominently in recent national agreements on climate

change mitigation (Hekkenberg & Koelemeijer, 2018) and the future of the Dutch food

system (Ministerie van Landbouw, Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit, 2019). Basing itself on

Complexity and Population Dynamics theory (Loorbach, 2010), TT finds that implementing

policies to create SD from a single vantage point is ineffective . This simply does not

acknowledge the inherent subjectivity and complexities of the issues connected to SD, such as

biodiversity loss, climate change mitigation and social equity. SD requires the collaboration

between a multitude of actors to resolve such issues effectively (Loorbach, 2010). TT

therefore recommends a governance regime that encourages collaboration between the

government and a broad range of stakeholders to devise and implement sustainable solutions

(Rotmans at al., 2001). This approach to SD has been used by the Dutch government, in

varying degrees of intensity, over the last 18 years (Ottens & Edelenbos, 2019).

One of the key stakeholders that need to be present within sustainability initiatives are

businesses. They will be the ones that need to create sustainable business models that enable

the economy as a whole to reach the government’s social and environmental goals (Bennet et

al., 2016). Their prominent role in the societal shift towards sustainability has led transition

theorist to come up with the Business Transition Management (BTM) framework (Loorbach

& Wijsman, 2013), a model that outlines how businesses can take part in the societal

transition towards sustainability. Just as in the governance model, the BTM framework

stipulates that businesses should focus on the interdependencies between business and society,

as well as taking a collaborative approach with their competitors when attempting to introduce

sustainable solutions into the market (Loorbach, van Bakel, Whiteman, & Rotmans, 2010). It

is no longer enough for businesses to focus on how they themselves can act sustainably, they

must see themselves as part of a larger network.

Most of the research in this field has focused on defining the methods through which

transition management can be implemented (Lachman, 2013), and the effects of this

implementation on individual projects (Loorbach & Rotmans, 2010) (Silva, Rosano, Stocker,

& Gorissen, 2017). This study aims to expand this field by investigating to what extent

businesses within the Dutch Food and Agribusiness (FA) sector are indeed using ideas from

BTM in the formulation of their own sustainability strategy. Instead of looking at how

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transition management can be implemented, this study looks at the realities of today, to

examine the extent to which it has been implemented within organizations themselves. This

hopes to determine which elements have been adopted, exposing those that have not and, in

doing so, pinpoint areas that are in need of further research or real-world action.

To achieve this goal, this study analyses the sustainability strategy documents of

businesses that are members of the Dutch FA network for Corporate Social Responsibility

(CSR) (MVO, 2019). This network is comprised of businesses who claim to be front runners

in creating sustainable solutions in the FA sector (MVO, 2019). The FA sector is chosen as a

field of study due to the many sustainability issues it faces and its direct connection to natural

systems in the production process (Friedrich, Heyder, & Theuvsen, 2012). Limiting the study

to businesses that are members of the CSR network, prevents this study from becoming a

research into the FA sector as a whole. Furthermore, it focuses the research on businesses that

are actively trying to create SD within the FA sector, leading to the following research

question:

RQ: To what extent are businesses, that are actively engaged in creating Sustainable

Development in the Dutch Food and Agribusiness sector, utilizing Business Transition

Management in their sustainability strategy?

The following chapter reviews the academic literature that guides this study, touching

on its societal relevance and the main concepts that build into the Business Transition

Management model. Chapter 3 consists of an explanation of the conceptual model. Chapter 4

expands on the analytical tools & methods used in this research. Chapter 5 will present the

results of the study. Chapter 6 contains a discussion of these results, provides

recommendations for future research and puts forward a conclusion.

2. Literature review

The following chapter gives a literature review on topics related to TT and the

research question at hand. The first section gives a definition of Sustainable Development, as

it is understood in this thesis, and outlines why the Dutch FA sector is in need of change to

achieve SD. Section 2.3 outlines the essential concepts behind TT, it explains the theories and

models it uses to understand societal change. Section 2.4 builds on these models, and explains

how TT recommends certain governance practices to help guide society towards SD. These

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sections all build towards 2.4, an explanation of the Business Transition Model. It is necessary

to give a comprehensive outline of what this model is built on, in order to understand its

societal relevance and intended goal. Finally, chapter 3 presents a conceptual model used to

evaluate the presence of BTM in the Dutch FA sector.

2.1 Sustainable Development

This research defines Sustainable Development along the same lines as it is been

inscribed in international agreements by the United Nations (UN) (Griggs et al., 2013) and

Dutch public policy (Ploumen, 2016). The fundamental definition that is used by both parties

comes from the Bruntland report published in 1987 which states that Sustainable development

is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of

future generations to meet their own needs” (Brundtland, 1987, p.3). In short, SD is seen as

the effort to improve the living standards of the global population while also mitigating the

environmental damage human activity is causing (Griggs et al., 2013). The following section

will put SD into the context of the Dutch governments approach to improving the FA sector.

2.2 Food and Agribusiness sector in need of Change

The last major shift in the Dutch food system occurred during the middle of the 20

th

century, with the passing of the Green Revolution (Veldkamp et al., 2009). The introduction

of industrial farming techniques, chemical fertilizers and enhanced crop genetics increased

output and pushed the Dutch FA sector into a position where it is now the second largest

exporter of food, counted by value in US dollars, in the world (Mulder & Biemans, 2018).

However, this position has come at an environmental cost (Veldkamp et al., 2009). This

intensive form of agriculture is both a major cause of greenhouse gas emissions and highly

destructive to local biodiversity; the Dutch country side is sometimes described as a green

desert (Van der Valk, 2002).

A second major issue facing the Dutch food sector is the exploitative nature of some

of the products that are imported from abroad and sold on the Dutch market. Chocolate

produced at the hands of modern-day slavery (Manzo, 2005), palm oil imports that required

the deforestation of pristine primary rainforest on the Indonesian archipelago (D’Antone &

Spencer, 2015), are but two prominent and poignant examples. The need to tackle this issue

has been addressed by a multitude of studies in different academic disciplines (Maloni &

Brown, 2006) (Freidberg, 2004) and has been discussed in several government policy

initiatives (van der Knijf, Bolhuis, van Galen & Beukers, 2011).

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With a global realization that both, anthropogenic climate change (IPCC, 2014) and

global biodiversity loss (IPBES, 2018), are at critical points in their development and a

growing awareness of the exploitative nature of international supply chains (Boström &

Klintman, 2009), the Dutch government has announced that it sees the need to fundamentally

change the manner in which the FA sector functions (Sterl, Höhne & Kuramochi, 2016) (

Van

Doorn et al., 2016) (van der Knijf, Bolhuis, van Galen & Beukers, 2011). They aim to do so

by using the knowledge aggregated in what is now called Transition Theory (Veldkamp et al.,

2009)

(Hekkenberg & Koelemeijer, 2018) (Ministerie van Landbouw, Natuur en

Voedselkwaliteit, 2019). The following section gives an explanation of the fundamental

concepts behind this school of thought and how it could be used to facilitate changes in the

FA sector.

2.3 Transition Theory

Transition Theory (TT) was developed in the early 2000’s, basing itself on numerous

other theoretical approaches to studying change from a system perspective, including

socio-technical system, innovation systems and population dynamics theory (Loorbach, 2010). The

combination of these theories created the following storyline.

Transition is an eternal process of societal change, that comprehensively restructures

specific subsections of society, or goes on to fundamentally change society as a whole. The

following features are attributed to such societal changes.

1. They concern comprehensive changes in the economic, cultural and ecological

climates of a society. These factors are interrelated and thus reinforce each other in

causing or resisting change.

2. This period of change is long lasting, taking at least 25 years.

3. These changes occur on multiple different levels.

A transition describes how one institutionally stable system evolves into another

through the “co-evolution of markets, networks, institutions, technologies, policies, individual

behavior and autonomous trends” (Loorbach, 2010, p.18). This dazzling array of factors, that

need to be taken into account when examining a transition, points toward a key feature of TT,

the complex nature of societal transitions.

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2.3.1 Complexity

Societal transitions are complex due to the fact that they have a varied range of causes

and an equally diverse range of implications (Loorbach, 2010). To give an example, it was not

only the discovery of steam power that caused the industrialization of 19

th

century Europe, it

was equally caused by a shift in political and economic systems, supported by cultural

identities and geological circumstances (Geels, 2011). Furthermore, transition can be sped up

due to singular events, such as large-scale disasters, but cannot be said to be caused by one

event in particular (Loorbach, 2010). Gradual changes in the environment of a society

determine the overall direction of a transition, prominent events might push such a transition

in a certain direction at a greater pace, but they are not the force driving the change itself.

To represent these characteristics TT uses three defining models; the Multi-Phase,

Multi-Level and Complex Adaptive System models, to get to grips with the complex

mechanisms of societal change. One could say that these build into one another, whereby the

final model encompasses the first two and is seen as the most complete version. The

following section describes each model and shows the growth in complexity as each model is

expanded.

2.3.2 Multi-Phase model

Even though transitions are seen as non-linear shifts in societal structure, these shifts

occur over long periods of time and pass through several phases, before a new equilibrium is

reached (Rotmans at al., 2001). An established state of practices must be broken down, while

a new paradigm gradually arises simultaneously. The general rule here is that societies

experience extended periods of general stability and refinement of the practices during a state

of equilibrium, which is followed by comparatively shorter stages where change occurs,

leading to its non-linear classification (Figure 2.1).

Figure 2.1. Multiphase transition model. Loorbach, D. (2010). Transition management for sustainable development: a prescriptive, complexity‐based governance framework. Governance, 23(1), 161-183. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0491.2009.01471.x

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The fluid S-shaped curve is, of course, a very general way to describe something as

complex as societal change (Loorbach, 2010). This curve represents multiple intertwined

innovations that occur at different rates and levels of society, that eventually replace the

dominant structure of a society over time. A systems approach tries to model for these

complexities and defines that transitions occur through the interaction of multiple different

sub-systems, that are in turn effected by individual changes in the products and processes

implemented within each system. This requires examining society from multiple different

levels.

2.3.3 The Multi-Level model

The Multi-Level model (Figure 2.2) used in TT has its origins within the study of how

technological innovations enter and disrupt a market, yet it is now used to describe a much

broader network than the market for microchips (Geels, 2010). The starting point of this

model is the dominant societal regime, this level describes the prevalent culture and practices

visible in the physical and intangible infrastructure of a society (e.g transportation

infrastructure, commination networks and political mechanisms). These structures keep a

system stable as they require time and energy to change, or have strong institutional inertia,

such as the boundaries set by an existing legal system for example. Moving down the model

we find the micro or niche level. Innovations and new ideas are invented and tested on this

level, pushing the boundaries of what the social regime can accept. Activities on both of these

levels interact and are affected by phenomena on the landscape level, pictured floating above

both levels. Here political ideas, ethical values and built environments affect the overall

direction of change within both levels (Geels, 2010). The rise in the global green movement is

an example of a process that occurs on the landscape level, and effects both the regime and

niche levels. This model has been expanded even further by TT, to represent the realization

that societies are in fact made up of multiple different systems and to show the evolutionary

process that occur between each section of the model.

Figure 2.2. Multi-level model of transition. Loorbach, D., & Wijsman, K. (2013). Business transition management: exploring a new role for business in sustainability transitions. Journal of cleaner production, 45, 20 -28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.11.002

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2.3.4 Complex Adaptive Systems model

This final model was developed to show that society is perhaps best seen as a wide

range of different technological systems, each having its own regime, niche and landscape

characteristics (Loorbach, 2010). A complex adaptive system model commences with the idea

that developments within a societal system are determined by the developments between each

level of a specific subsystem (niche, regime) and the surrounding environment. To take such

an approach requires a distinction between “internal, specific and

system-external developments” (Loorbach, 2010, p.21). One can then take an individual system as a

sphere for analysis, in the case of this study this would be the FA system. Studying the

internal developments within this system, determining the dominant practices and novel

innovations that arise as a system develops. One simultaneously includes the developments in

external systems and frames the developments within such a subsystem as part of the of

overall societal system. The eventual picture of society that is created is a collection of

different subsystems, regimes with niches that reside internally and externally, and together

create the overall societal system, interacting with its environment (Figure 2.3). These

systems are constantly adapting, to developments occurring internally, within other systems

and to the overall environment.

Figure 2.3. Complex adaptive systems model. Loorbach, D. (2010). Transition management for sustainable development: a prescriptive, complexity‐based governance framework. Governance, 23(1), 161-183.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0491.2009.01471

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2.4 Sustainable Development and Transition Theory

Taking these models as a starting point, TT has developed a governance method

through which actors can attain a level of agency in influencing how transitions take place in

order to address the complex issue of SD in particular (Loorbach, 2010). This is now called

transition management. It is important to note that understanding a society as an

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amalgamation of complex adaptive systems could be used to guide it in any direction, creating

SD is just the key idea leading researchers and policy makers at this point in time. The

following section explains the principles of transition management and leads into how this has

led to a specific business-related framework being created as a result (Loorbach, 2010).

The golden thread that runs through transition management is that a governing body

must anticipate and act on the landscape level trend driving the need for sustainability, to

encourage niche level innovations relating to this issue and so, cause a regime transition

within a particular industry or subsystem (Rotmans et al, 2001). As it is attempting to do so

within a complex and ever-changing set of systems, a governing body cannot hold on to a

fixed set of policy initiatives. It must be able to adapt and change its own goals through

collective learning activities, while maintaining a long-term vision on creating sustainability

in society. Furthermore, it must use the sharing of knowledge between actors to break through

barriers that a current system may have in place, such as legislative or financial restrictions.

Transition management aims at creating spaces where such collective learning

activities can take place, so called transition arenas. In these arenas, commercial,

governmental and academic stakeholders related to a particular subsystem are gathered to

create a Learning-Action Network; a space where knowledge & capabilities are shared and

where new innovations are developed and released into the market (Loorbach, van Bakel,

Whiteman, & Rotmans, 2010). As these network-based approaches are implemented,

co-evolutionary mechanisms start to take hold, whereby the commercial, governmental and

societal stakeholders keep adapting to the knowledge that is shared within the network. These

learning-action networks are considered vital in overcoming the inertia of the current

unsustainable regime and cause a non-linear transition within a subsystem (Loorbach, van

Bakel, Whiteman, & Rotmans, 2010).

Such learning-action networks have been implemented and studied in a number of

case studies, all within the Netherlands, to test this governance framework and to see if this

theoretical concoction does indeed help push industries towards sustainability (Loorbach &

Rotman, 2010). The first of its kind was a project involving economically depressed old

mining communities in the Parkstad region of Limburg (Loorbach & Rotmans, 2010). A truly

governance-based project, it aimed at gathering together municipal governments and its

inhabitants to define the future of the region. This project ran for one year and resulted in the

merging of the regions municipal bodies under a single regulatory body with clear goals set

according to developing sustainability in the region and the direction of its commercial sector.

Furthermore, it spawned several smaller working groups, new transition arenas including

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many non-government actors, that continued to work on improving the areas living

conditions. A second of such case studies described the transition program set up by the

Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports (Loorbach & Rotmans, 2010). This working

group set out to create an experimental space for new healthcare solutions, which would then

be communicated to all parties active in the Dutch healthcare system. These projects were all

firmly based in the public sphere yet included commercial actors throughout the entire

process. These first case studies started to build ideas on how businesses should be involved

in this process, both concluding that collaborative approaches should lie at the heart of any

involvement in the transition process (Loorbach & Rotmans, 2010).

The first major case study focused entirely on the commercial end of the transition of

society was initiated by the EHSA group, a manufacturer of bitumen products (Loorbach &

Wijsman, 2013). An unlikely candidate for creating sustainable solutions one might say, as

bitumen is a byproduct of the oil industry. However, the EHSA group succeeded in creating a

true learning-action network composed of local government bodies, knowledge institutes,

producers of roofing products, potential customers, architects and NGO’s that all worked to

create a way that roofing could aid in reducing carbon emissions, improving water

management and enhancing local biodiversity within the Netherlands. This case was guided

by academics from the transition institute, a thinktank linked to the Erasmus University in

Rotterdam, but was truly led by a commercial actor. This has expanded the field of Transition

Theory, from the public sphere towards the action of commercial parties.

2.5 Business Transition Management

The case studies described above allowed researchers to adapt the previously

governance-based transition management framework for use in the private sector (Loorbach

& Wijsman, 2013). This Business Transition Management (BTM) framework set outs a way

for commercial actors to orient their business towards taking part in sustainable transitions

and, by doing so, develop new business models that can contribute to both economic growth,

social equity and ecological sustainability. This framework sets out that businesses need to

redefine their strategy and, instead of focusing on how they should act as an individual entity,

define ways to take part in learning action networks within their industry or geographic region

(Loorbach & Wijsman, 2013).

Loorbach and Wijsman (2013) are the creators of the BTM framework, having come

up with it after being heavily involved in the transition theory field for over the years and

using the EHSA case study in particular to define it in precise terms. The BTM framework is

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split into four distinct concepts, each describing a different process within the strategy of a

business. It commences with a description of how a business should go about setting their

goals related to sustainability issues, Strategic Envisioning. It continues to expand on how

business should sow the seeds of collaborative action, Tactical Networking. This is followed

by an explanation of how business should conduct experiments and implement solutions to

sustainability issues together with or separate from other parties, Operational Innovation. The

final concept within the BTM framework is Reflexive Monitoring, this outlines how a

business should review and react to the actions undertaken during the other stages of the

framework. The section below gives a more detailed description of each of these concepts,

which are vital to this research.

2.5.1 Strategic Envisioning

The first concept within the BTM framework, strategic envisioning, immediately

signals the collaborative approach that TT requires of a business. This step determines that

employees from the business need to come together with stakeholders and other societal

actors to define the societal issue they want to aid in solving. Here they must clearly define

which issue they aim to tackle and how the actions of a firm will facilitate a transition,

together with the other members involved. The effects of a business’s actions on society in

general, stakeholders and on the business itself, should be defined here. At the heart of this

discussion should be the wish to transform society according to sustainability principles,

taking both environmental and social concerns into account. This feature of the framework

shows that a firm accepts the interrelated nature of the issue they want to address and reflects

their willingness to integrate views from other stakeholders into their own actions.

2.5.2 Tactical Networking

The next step in the cycle consists of tactical networking, this is a practical

implementation of the strategy built in step one. This step sees a business develop strategies

and coalitions around the societal issue they aim to address together with other stakeholders.

This does not only include direct actions with definite goals, the definition of learning

objectives and experiments should also be included in this section. The goal of this coalition

is to overcome the inertia of the present systems physiological, legal and financial barriers

through experimenting together, and realizing what is now being called transition pathways.

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2.5.3 Operational Innovation

Creating experimental new products, services and financing schemes is the next step

for a business implementing BTM. These tests are vital in determining the feasibility and

profitability of novel modes of business as well as showing where potential barriers may lie in

their implementation. These experiments, product and process innovations can be achieved

within the firm itself, or as another collaborative effort by the members involved in the

network. This process has been coined operational innovation.

2.5.4 Reflexive monitoring

The final concept within the transition cycle is determined to be the act of a business

integrating flexible and multi-stakeholder conversation platforms into their business strategy,

to discuss and evaluate the effect of the activities described above. This enhances the learning

capabilities of the network as a whole and facilitates more efficient resolution of the issues at

hand. Allowing the network to remain flexible and capable of resolving new issues as they

arise is pivotal in creating a business that is addressing issues as complex as SD. This mode of

evaluation has been named reflexive monitoring by Loorbach & Wijsman (2013).

The BTM model rest firmly on the previous TT models. It rests on the assumption that

the global push for SD requires a non-linear societal transition in most industries, sub-systems

in TT jargon, and that for business to play and effective part in this, they should adjust their

strategy accordingly. Having now put forward the theoretical background to this research, the

following chapter will put forward the conceptual model that guides this research to outline

clearly what exactly this study aims to test.

3. Conceptual Model

The aim of this study is to examine to what extent businesses, that are actively

engaged in creating sustainable development in the Dutch Food and agribusiness sector, are

using Business Transition Management in formulation of their sustainability strategy. The

following section will outline the conceptual model used in this research.

3.1 BTM Framework

The outline of this research is straightforward, we aim to test whether BTM processes

are present or not within the strategy document of a business. To achieve this, this paper takes

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a hypothesis testing approach. Subsequently the main hypothesis we look to support, or reject

is.

H1: The business uses Business Transition Management in its sustainability strategy.

As described in the literature review, the BTM framework consists of four different

concepts; Strategic envisioning, Tactical networking, Operational innovation and Reflexive

monitoring. To accept H1, each concept must be present within the strategy document of a

business. This creates four more hypotheses, one for each of the concepts within the BTM

framework.

H2: Strategic envisioning is present within the document.

H3: Tactical networking is present within the document.

H4: Operational innovation is present within the document.

H5: Reflexive monitoring is present within the document.

Figure 3.1. Conceptual model to test the presence of BTM within a sustainability strategy document (Loorbach & Wijsman, 2013).

The concept can either be deemed present within the strategy document of a business,

meaning the hypothesis is supported, or it is deemed to be absent, meaning the hypothesis is

rejected. If all four of these hypotheses are supported, full utilization of BTM can be

concluded and H1 can be fully supported (Figure 3.1). If some, but not all, of the concepts of

the BTM model can be deemed to be present within a document, one can conclude that this

business is partially utilizing BTM within its strategy formulation, H1 can be partially

supported. If none of the four hypotheses are supported, H1 is rejected, and it can be

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concluded the business does not use BTM in its sustainability strategy. Building on this

conceptual model, the following chapter will expand on the methods used in this research to

answer the research question.

4. Methodology

The primary goal of this study is to examine to what extent businesses in the Dutch FA

sector are using BTM in the formulation of their sustainability strategy. The following chapter

will explain the research design, the methods of data collection, sampling choices and

analytical tools used to answer this question

.

4.1 Research design & Data collection

This study takes the form of a cross-sectional framework analysis conducted on the

Dutch sustainable FA sector. The research strategy entails a qualitative content analysis of

businesses’ strategy documents (Graneheim & Lundman, 2004) (Srivastava & Thomson,

2009). Qualitative analysis is not the most widely used research method for theory testing, but

it is considered an academically valid approach by the American Journal of Management

(Bansal & Corley, 2012). The following section explains the method data collection and

touches upon the reliability and validity of the data.

The data is entirely composed of primary data, in the form of the most recent

sustainability strategy documents published by the businesses in the sample. In most cases,

these come in the shape of a corporate social responsibility report, which explains how a

business has engaged in creating sustainable solutions in the past and how it plans to do so in

the future. In other cases, these documents come in shape of a report that explicitly expresses

the sustainability strategy of the business in question and is titled as a sustainability strategy

report. If neither of these documents are available, the annual report of the business is

analyzed, however this is only undertaken if it contains a section on the sustainability strategy

of a business. The documents are acquired directly from the webpages of the businesses in

question, which publish these reports on their investor relations or sustainability goals page. If

these documents are not available however, a request is made by email or telephone for such

documents. In some cases, the documents were only available in Dutch, these documents

were translated using Google Translate and then corrected for accuracy. The primary nature

and direct means of data collection gives this data a high standard of reliability. The following

section addresses why this data should be seen as a valid means to test the research question.

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This study examines the sustainability strategy of a business, at the hand of the

strategy documents it publishes for public viewing. Strategy documents are the format

through which businesses set out their vision on how they wish to engage in the market as an

individual entity (León-Soriano, Jesús Muñoz-Torres, & Chalmeta-Rosalen, 2010). If a

business is using BTM techniques in its strategy, this should be visible in such a document.

Furthermore, seeing the degree to which businesses have introduced a more collaborative

approach in such a historically self-centered document should highlight its true adoption. Both

of these factors ensure the validity of using strategy documents as data in this research.

4.2 The Sample

An important distinction that must be made in this study is that it aims to research

companies that claim to be actively engaged in creating SD, not the FA sector as a whole.

This may seem a somewhat vague statement, but hopefully the following explanation will

dispel any uncertainties. This study defines businesses active within the Dutch branch FA

Organizations for Corporate Social Responsibility (MVO, 2019) as businesses that claim to

be actively engaged in creating SD. On the website of this branch organization it is stated that

all members are front runners in creating sustainable solutions, with high environmental

standards and ethical governance structures (MVO, 2019). These businesses align themselves

with the view that the current state of our economy is causing widespread environmental

damage, that is harming the possibility of future generations to fulfill their own needs and

must therefore be changed (MVO, 2019). Although this is not an all-encompassing sample of

businesses with such ideologies, it is a clearly demarcated group of influential businesses

attempting to create change in the FA sector. This is therefore a valid group under which to

test the adoption of an SD based business strategy.

This organization contains 39 members, that are active in a wide range of

specializations within the FA sector. However, due to the limited availability of relevant

strategy documents, the final sample includes 13 of these companies for analysis. A

justification for the exclusion of the other 26 business can be found in the appendix

(Appendix A). The businesses that have such documents available seem to be the more

established businesses in the sector, causing this report to end up studying a more corporate

level approach to sustainability. Even though this is the case, it does allow one to examine the

functioning of these businesses, which do claim sustainable credentials, and see whether they,

with their extensive means, are integrating a widely available theory on SD into their

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the sample. This would not have been possible if each business had such documents available,

due to the limited nature of a bachelor thesis. Table 4.1 presents a description of the

businesses that make up the final sample, with the type of document that is used in the

analysis.

Name Specialization Type of document Year published

Arla Dairy farming/processing CSR report 2018

Best Fresh Fruit and vegetable

wholesalers

Sustainability strategy report 2017

Cono Cheese makers CSR report 2016

Cool Fresh Fruit and vegetable

wholesaler

CSR report 2018

Coop Supermarket Sustainability strategy report 2018

Dalco Protein specialist CSR report 2015

Delphy Agricultural consultant CSR report 2017

Gulpener Beer brewer CSR report 2017

Jumbo Supermarket CSR report section of Annual

report

2018

Nature’s pride Fruit and vegetable

wholesaler

Sustainability strategy report 2017

Royal A-ware Dairy wholesaler CSR report 2017

Royal Cosun Agro-industrial

conglomerate

CSR report 2016

Spadel Water CSR report 2015

Table 4.1. Specialization, type and publishing year of the strategy document of the businesses included in the

sample.

4.3 Analysis

The strategy documents of the businesses in the sample are analyzed using a mix of

methods. The main outline of the analysis follows a method for framework analysis set out in

a prominent paper published in the journal for Administration and Governance (Srivastava &

Thomson, 2009). Srivastava and Thomson (2009) state that their method is most applicable to

public and private sector policy research with specific research questions, a limited time

frame, pre-designed sample and priori issues. This study does exactly that, by examining the

strategy of a set number of organizations, while looking to determine the presence or absence

of a certain policy.

The process starts with a familiarization of the texts. Each company’s strategy

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Second, the relevant information is lifted out of the text. In this study, almost the complete

text is put through for further analysis, as the general strategy of the business is the focus of

this study. However, sections containing generally irrelevant information, such as why

employees enjoyed their jobs or in-depth descriptions of industrial cheese slicing, are

excluded. The next step is developing a thematic framework that represents the text through

indexing and charting its contents. This research uses a process set out by Graneheim &

Lundman (2001), in a seminal paper on extracting conclusions from qualitative data to do

this. The relevant sections of each text are examined to extract quotes related to a specific

topic, dubbed meaning units. These are labeled to give a condensed meaning unit. The

collection of meaning units that relate to the topic in a similar fashion can then be used to

create sub-themes and a general theme. These general themes can then be used to display the

topics addressed in a text. This process is followed for each document in this research. The

outcome of a framework analysis leads to charts of information where one can see how exerts

from the text build into overarching themes. These themes should arise naturally while, of

course, looking for specific topics related to the research question; it should not be the goal to

make the text fit the priori issues developed in the theoretical framework. Having said this,

one theme was sought out purposefully in this research: does the document concern the

sustainability strategy of a business? This was done to make sure the conclusions drawn from

the text can be considered valid. The final step is to reexamine the general text and judge the

created themes against the whole. This is done to ensure the themes do represent the text in its

entirety and that no sections of the text conflict with the created themes.

BTM Concept

Action

Strategic Envisioning • Business must collaborate with stakeholders to define

the societal issues they want to tackle.

• Determine the effects of a business’s operations on the other stakeholders and society in general.

• Express the wish to transform society according to sustainability principles.

Tactical Networking • Develop strategies with stakeholders to address societal

issues.

• Develop goals, learning objectives and experiments with stakeholders.

Operational Innovation • Create experimental new processes, products, services

and financing schemes based on the collaboration with stakeholders.

Reflexive Monitoring • Integrate flexible and multi-stakeholder conversation

platforms into their business strategy.

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The second step in the analysis is judging the created themes against the four

hypotheses based on the BTM framework. Each theme is examined to judge whether they

provide evidence to support the four hypotheses, based on reasoning supported by charted

data for each strategy document. In this research, evidence is sought for the presence of

Strategic Envisioning, Tactical Networking, Operational Innovation and Reflexive

Monitoring in each strategy document. It is important to note that these concepts do not have

to be named explicitly for them to be present. The actions the terms represent are more

important than the use of transition theory jargon. This research will therefore be judging

whether the actions described in the BTM framework are present within each strategy

document, a summary of these actions can be found in table 4.2. This process, whereby the

open analysis is judged against a set of priori issues, is called mapping and interpretation by

Srivastava and Thomson (2009). The goal of the analysis is to support or reject H2-H5 and

the main hypothesis; together determining to what extent a business uses BTM in its

sustainability strategy. Both sections of the analysis are presented per business in chapter four

of this research. Having now set out how this research is conducted; the following chapter

presents the results.

5. Results

This chapter will put forward the findings of the qualitive framework analysis

conducted on the sustainability strategy documents of the 13 business in the sample. The first

section, however, explains how each document was deemed relevant to the research question,

this is followed by the results presented per business. These results are split into two sections,

whereby the first section explains the themes that were extracted from the document, the

second judges these themes against the 5 hypotheses set out in the conceptual framework.

5.1 Relevance of documents

The first thing that should be said in this section is that every document included in

this study is deemed representative of the sustainability strategy of the businesses in question,

based upon a single extracted theme. This was either expressed explicitly in the text though

the use of sentences such as “the overall sustainability strategy focuses on” (Arla, 2018, p.4)

or can be construed implicitly. If this was the case, this was done in opening remarks or

introduction of the document, where a commitment to sustainability was put forward, through

the description of certain sustainability issues, followed by a statement which showed a

business’s intent to help solve these issues. Having fulfilled this necessity, the following

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sections include a case by case description of the themes present in the strategy documents of

each business yet excludes the description of the theme that validates the document as a

relevant study document. This lessens the already slightly repetitive nature of this chapter.

5.2 Arla

Arla is one of the oldest and largest dairy cooperatives in the world. It is owned

entirely by its farmer members and boosts a substantial processing and distribution network

(Arla, 2018). The analysis of Arla’s CSR report resulted in four major themes: ‘use

collaboration to create strategy’, ‘collaborate to create and implement sustainable solutions’,

‘Practical policies to enhance sustainability’, ‘encourage consumers to purchase healthy

products’ (Table 5.1) (Appendix B).

The first theme, dubbed ‘use collaboration to create strategy’ was created due to many

referrals in the text to collaboration with external parties, mostly research institutes, in the

creation of the Arla’s strategy. Firstly, they have developed what they call “science-based

targets” (Arla, 2018, p.17) together with external research partners to ensure that Arla’s

activities aid in meeting standards set by the Paris agreements. Furthermore, they fund

multiple research platforms at Aarhus and Copenhagen University to study the future of

sustainable dairy production and use their findings to implement policies that “reduce the

environmental and climate impacts” (Arla, 2018, p.3) of dairy production. Furthermore, they

base their strategy surrounding the creation of healthy products on a diverse range of

stakeholder dialogues. This includes open discussions with customers to having “a group of

experts within different fields of nutrition and health critically review our health strategy”

(Arla, 2018, p.9). Further examples can be found in Appendix B. The summation of all these

points allows one to state that Arla does use collaboration to create and test its sustainability

strategy.

The second theme that arises from the text is that Arla does ‘collaborate to create and

implement sustainable solutions’. Again, indications of this theme are found throughout the

text, where cooperation with research institutes, platforms of other businesses, NGO’s and

governmental organizations lead to the development of sustainable solutions and the

implementation of these solutions together with the organization in question. Examples of this

are the cooperation with OECD to improve “human and labour rights, animal welfare and to

promote technology and innovation” (Arla, 2018, p.14) around the world and that it has

conducted projects with “other large companies within the food industry” (Arla, 2018, p. 16)

to research and implement a system to measure carbon sequestration on farm land. Arla is

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also active in multiple other multi-party projects to reduce food waste and reduce the impact

of product packaging. It can be said that the majority of the sustainable solutions proposed in

Arla’s CSR report are undertaken with at least one other party.

The final two themes: ‘practical policies to enhance sustainability’ and ‘encourage

consumers to purchase healthy products’, are created from a multitude of policies that Arla

proposes without involving any other actors. They include the introduction of products

containing only natural sugars, energy saving technologies or the introduction of sustainable

farming techniques. The complete list of examples can be found in Appendix B. Overall, one

can state that Arla’s CSR report leans heavily on its wish to collaborate with multiple other

parties to create and implement their sustainability strategy while also outlining how it does

so internally.

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Themes

CSR report 1. Use collaboration to create strategy

2. Collaborate to create and implement sustainable solutions.

3. Practical policies to enhance sustainability 4. Encourage consumers to purchase healthy

products Table 5.1 Themes of Arla CSR report (Arla, 2018)

5.2.1 Arla and BTM

Judging the chart of Arla’s themes (Appendix B) against the BTM framework this

report finds that one can support H2, H3 and H4; meaning that Strategic Envisioning, Tactical

Networking and Operational Innovation are present within the Arla’s sustainability strategy

document (Table 5.2). As some, but not all, of the hypotheses are accepted, one can also

partially accept H1, meaning that Arla is partially using BTM in its sustainability strategy. H2

and H3 can be accepted on the basis of the first theme extracted from Arla’s CSR report; ‘use

collaboration to create strategy’ (Appendix B). This theme shows that Arla is coming together

with a range of stakeholders to define the issues related to dairy production. It works with

research institutes, governmental bodies and other commercial actors to define the issues

related to dairy farming as well collaborating with these parties to develop strategies and

experiments to enhance sustainability of the industry. Strategic Envisioning and Tactical

Networking are therefore present in Arala’s strategy document. H4 is supported by two

themes, ‘collaborate to create and implement sustainable solutions’ and ‘practical policies to

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enhance sustainability’. Arla’s implementation of sustainable farming practices, use of energy

saving technologies and reduction in packaging are linked throughout the report to its

collaboration with its stakeholders. Therefore, Operational Innovation is present within Arla’s

strategy document. Finally, no evidence is found in the text for the use of multi-party

conversation platforms to judge Arla’s sustainability performance, rejecting H5, meaning

Reflexive Monitoring is not present within the document. The analysis ends with supporting

H2-4 but rejecting H5, we can therefore state that Arla partially uses BTM in its sustainability

strategy.

Hypotheses

H2- Strategic envisioning is present in the document. H3- Tactical networking is present

within the document

H4- Operational innovation is present within the document

H5- Reflexive monitoring is present within the document.

Supported

●

● Rejected

●

Table 5.2. Hypotheses results of Arla CSR report (Arla, 2018).

5.3 Best Fresh

Best Fresh is an internationally active trading and processing business focused on

fresh fruit and vegetables. It has been active as a trader for decades but has since 2001 also

focused on processing and packaging produce it trades in. The analysis of its Sustainability

Strategy Report results in three themes; ‘strategy is linked to specific SDGs’, ‘partnership &

collaboration helps BF achieve sustainable goals’ and ‘sourcing & producing sustainable

products’ (Table 5.3) (Appendix C).

Throughout the text each action or strategy initiative planned or accomplished by Best

Fresh group is linked to an individual Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). This can be

deducted from sentences such as “each pillar is linked to an SDG” (Best Fresh, 2017, p.5).

Each section also includes a detailed description of the SDG that is addressed by actions

undertaken by Best Fresh.

The second theme ‘partnership & collaboration helps BF meet sustainable goals’ can

be seen through Best Fresh groups emphasis on “diversity amongst our companies”

and its

collaborations with Vers+ and MVO Westland. They do not go into great detail when

describing these collaborations, except for naming these collaborations and that these are

beneficial to their sustainable goal. Much of the report that addresses this theme is composed

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of value statements such as “at Best Fresh we believe in strength of diversity and

collaborations” (Best Fresh, 2017, p.11).

The final theme in this strategy report is linked to Best Fresh groups approach to

creating sustainability through ‘producing sustainable products’. Again, these actions are not

described in depth, with a number of value statements such as “we strive to create added value

in our supply chain whilst maintaining the impact on the environment and communities

worldwide to a minimum” (Best Fresh, 2017, p. 4). A few concrete examples are given,

relating to ways in which they measure their carbon footprint and their use of renewable

energy sources to power their offices and greenhouses. Overall this strategy document

remains vague on how Best Fresh aims to attain its sustainable goals.

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Themes

Sustainability strategy report

1. Strategy is linked to specific SDGs.

2. Partnership & collaboration helps BF achieve sustainable goals.

3. Sourcing & producing sustainable products. Table 5.3. Themes of Best Fresh Sustainability strategy report (Best Fresh, 2018).

5.3.1 Best Fresh and BTM

Examining Best Fresh’s theme chart (Appendix C) this report finds that none of the

concepts from the BTM framework can be deemed present within the text (Table 5.4). Best

Fresh’s strategy defines its approach to solving social issues by framing its activities through

an SDG lens. This is not the approach as described by Strategic Envisioning, which states that

this definition should be created through stakeholder interaction. Furthermore, even though

Best Fresh states that it achieves its sustainable goals through collaboration, no details are

given on how this is achieved. Its sustainable sourcing and producing processes are also not

linked to this collaborative approach. This leaves no evidence to support any of the

hypotheses, leading to a rejection of H1, meaning that Best Fresh does not use BTM in its

sustainability strategy.

Hypotheses

H2- Strategic envisioning is present in the document. H3- Tactical networking is present within the document.

H4- Operational innovation is present

in the document.

Supported

Rejected

●

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5.4 Cono

Cono is a cheesemaking business situated in the Beemster polder, one of the most

prominent cheese producing regions of the Netherlands. Its CSR report was notably short,

only including three pages of text. This resulted in two themes to arise from its contents,

‘meet individual goals’ and ‘broad statements to fulfill goals’ (Table 5.5) (Appendix D). The

report starts out by setting out CONO’s goals, which include items such as; “be the greenest

by the end of 2020” (Cono, 2016, p.1) and “contribute to the landscape” (Cono, 2016, p.1)

The rest of report goes on to give broad statements on how it aims to achieve its goals.

Sentences such as “CONO Kaasmakers respects and honors international human rights”

(Cono, 2016, p.2) are emblematic of their report. Overall sustainability issues are touched

upon but only on the basis of recognizing the issues, and that Cono wishes to address these

issues with several simple strategy measure such as; “protect Beemster Polder, a world

heritage site” (Cono, 2016, p.2).

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Themes

CSR report 1. Meet individual goals

2. Broad statements to fulfill goals Table 5.5. Themes of Cono CSR report (Cono, 2016).

5.4.1 Cono and BTM

Looking at Cono’s theme chart (Appendix D) this report finds that none of the BTM

concepts are present within Cono’s sustainability strategy (Table 5.6). Cono sets its strategy

around certain goals and puts forward actions it, as an individual entity, will undertake to

achieve these goals. This does not correspond with any of the collaborative actions the BTM

framework describes. Therefore, this reports rejects H2-5 and rejects H1; Cono does not use

BTM in the formulation of its sustainability strategy.

Hypotheses

H4- Operational innovation is present within the document.

Supported

Rejected

●

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5.5 Cool Fresh

Cool Fresh is an international wholesaler of fruit and vegetables. Cool Fresh was the

only company where the results of the qualitive analysis drew into question whether or not

this document could be seen as a valid representation of the sustainable strategy of the

business. Its focus was on growth and creating higher profits for its suppliers, however with

the presence of sentences that described Cool Fresh’s wish to be a “responsible partner in

society and facilitate its clients to participate in sustainable social projects” (Cool Fresh, 2018,

p.2) it is deemed to be sufficiently focused on sustainability to be taken into account. The two

themes that arose from the text were, ‘achieve sustainability through meeting regulatory

standards’ and ‘engage in stakeholder dialogues to improve CSR strategy in the future’ (Table

5.7) (Appendix E).

The first theme was created due to frequent occurrence of statements such as “meet

and exceed all applicable (local) governmental requirements, and adhere to local requirements

no matter where we do business” (Cool Fresh, 2018, p.2) and “Cool Fresh International bases

its company policies on various international social compliance conventions” (Cool Fresh,

2018, p.3). Further emphasis was put on making sure suppliers meet guidelines set up by Cool

Fresh. Cool Fresh was not responsible for the sustainable innovation of the products, it was

merely up to them to judge whether a supplier was meeting a set list of requirements. An

example of one of these requirements is that suppliers must “utilize academic and regulatory

organisations to assist in the development of solutions of environmental problems” (Cool

Fresh, 2018, p.3). Each requirement is relatively open to interpretation and places the

responsibility for action squarely with the supplying parties.

The second theme, ‘engage in stakeholder dialogues to improve CSR strategy in the

future’, was created from the final section of Cool Fresh’s CSR report, which stipulated that,

in the future, stakeholder dialogues with banks, growers and transport service providers would

enhance the CSR capabilities of Cool Fresh.

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Themes

CSR report 1. Achieve sustainability through meeting

regulatory standards.

2. Engage in stakeholder dialogues to improve CSR strategy in the future. Table 5.7. Themes of Cool Fresh CSR report (Cool Fresh, 2018).

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5.5.1 Cool Fresh and BTM

Judging Cool Fresh’s theme chart against the BTM framework this report rejects H2-5

(Table 5.8). The majority of Cool Fresh’s report is based on meeting environmental and

employment regulations and requiring its suppliers to meet further standards, it finds that this

is the way Cool Fresh achieves sustainable business practices. Even though stakeholder

dialogues are introduced as a way to improve CSR policies, no link is made to joining forces

to define social issues, implement solutions or evaluate outcomes. This report therefore rejects

H2-5 leading to a rejection of H1, meaning that Cool Fresh does not use BTM in its

sustainability strategy.

Hypotheses

H4- Operational innovation is present within the document.

Supported

Rejected

●

Table 5.8. Hypotheses results of Cool Fresh CSR report (Cool Fresh, 2018).

5.6 Coop

Coop is a reasonably large chain of supermarkets that runs as a cooperative throughout

the Netherlands. The analysis of their sustainability strategy report led to four themes:

‘promote a healthy life style’; ‘create sustainability through procuring and supplying

sustainable products’; ‘minimize environmental impact through waste reduction’; ‘energy

efficiency’ and ‘collaborate with stakeholders to inform, build and implement sustainable

solutions’ (Table 5.9) (Appendix F).

The first theme can be deduced through mission statements, active policies and the

way Coop interacts with employees. Phrases such as “we are paying more and more attention

to healthy lifestyle” (Coop, 2017, p.22) appear frequently throughout the text and Coop has

several projects that promote healthy lifestyle to its customers and employees.

The second theme is seen through the description of Coops procurement and

advertising initiatives. Their buyer Superunie is “working on sustainable and transparent

product chains” (Coop, 2017, p. 35) and the report gives several examples of how this

achieved. Furthermore, Coop focuses on supplying meat with certified animal welfare and

carbon emissions stickers. For a complete range of examples please view Appendix F.

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The third theme describes the many actions Coop undertakes to, Minimize

environmental impact through waste reduction and energy efficiency. This is achieved

through giving examples of such actions; e.g replacing boilers with more sustainable ones and

using electric vehicles to transport products. What binds these factors together into a theme is

that there are presented as individual actions Coop takes to become more sustainable. Again,

refer to Appendix F for a complete range of examples.

The fourth theme reads, ‘collaborate with stakeholders to inform, build and implement

sustainable solutions’. One complete chapter of the report is filled with the description of the

interaction between Coop and multiple different stakeholders, mostly governments and NGOs

but also a few businesses, to inform Coops CSR policy and implement these solutions

together with the stakeholders. Coop invites guest speakers over to inform its climate change

mitigation policy, it works together with animal rights groups to encourage sustainable meat

supply and works closely with a group of different parties to facilitate the creation of circular

food supply chains. Overall, a large part of Coops sustainability policy is based around

collaboration.

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Themes

Sustainability strategy report 1. Promote a healthy life style

2. Create sustainability through procuring and supplying sustainable products

3. Minimize environmental impact through waste reduction, energy efficiency

4. Collaborate with stakeholders to inform, build and implement sustainable solutions

Table 5.9 Themes of Coop Sustainability strategy report (Coop, 2017).

5.6.1 Coop and BTM

Judging Coop’s theme chart (Appendix F) against the BTM framework evidence can

be drawn to support the presence of Strategic Envisioning, Tactical Networking and

Operational Innovation, and thus supports H2-4 (Table 5.10). No evidence is found for the

presence of Reflexive Monitoring in the text, therefore H5 is rejected.

The theme that provides evidence for the support of H2-4 is ‘collaborate with

stakeholders to inform, build and implement sustainable solutions’. Coop’s interaction with

stakeholders to set standards for sustainable produce, with a particular emphasis on meat

products, is a clear example of Strategic Envisioning. Coop has come together with a group of

stakeholders to define an issue and sets out goals to achieve improvements with sustainability

A study of the current utilization of Business Transition Management theory within the Dutch sustainable Food & Agribusiness sector. Casper Jan